O is for Ominious
by Grav
Summary: This is how you know. Full team, gen, written for the Gen Fic Alphabet Soup


**AN**: WHY do I always go for DRABBLES? This was written for the Gen Gen Fic Day Alphabet Soup, brought to you by the letter "O" and the number "7".

**Spoilers**: Season Seven-Ten, but vague. Includes Jack, Sam, Teal'c, Daniel, Jonas, Vala and Mitchell.

**Rating**: PG

**Summary**: This is how you know.

* * *

**O is for Ominous**

_This is how Jack knows that Jonas will never be the same._

He watched Daniel on Abydos, both times, and Teal'c when they met another Jaffa. Heck, even Carter was blue around the edges when it came to the Tok'ra. But Jonas is going back to frustration. Unending strife and political machinations. The smile will come with less frequency. The eyes will harden. The glorious fascination with every little thing will fade into cynicism. Jack is not sure how much of that he is responsible for, but it's enough that he wishes he'd been nicer while he had the chance.

_This is how Sam knows that Daniel has changed._

He is quicker to snap; less thoughtful about what he says. It's not like the time he was addicted to the sarcophagus. That was cured easily enough. This is different. Deeper. Some darkness that no amount of light can fully restore. He's lost something, had something taken from him by his former peers, and Sam knows that he will never forgive himself for his inability to act. It's not his fault, they all remind him of that, but Sam is starting to understand that that only makes it all the worse.

_This is how Teal'c knows that Jack is going to leave._

He stops making jokes about his knees. He stops meeting Teal'c's eyes during briefings when Carter goes on for too long about something both of them pretend not to understand. He stops reminiscing about the good old days over beer and pizza on Friday nights. Teal'c joined the SGC because of what he saw in Jack, but that isn't what keeps him here now. He thought Jack knew it, but he has always been too good at hiding things from his comrades. Now there's nothing left but another good-bye.

_This is how Mitchell knows Sam is okay with him in command._

It has to do with baking and fishing, but it takes him a while to figure out the rest. The rest is that she'd had her fill of fighting gods when they were entirely fake. Dealing with fake gods who are entirely real is another matter; one she'd rather take orders on in place of giving them. He's a little bit jealous of that, sometimes, but the days when his legs hurt and he remembers the price he paid to get here, he just laces his boots tighter.

_This is how Jonas knows exactly how Teal'c feels._

Jonas got to go home. It wasn't under the best of circumstances, and he wishes he could leave almost every day, but he stays. He stays because if he left, it would get much worse. As always, worse arrives when he's entirely unprepared. After the Ori come and he realizes that there's absolutely nothing he can do, it's all he can manage to send a message to the SGC. It's short and heavily encrypted, and once defragged, will read simply "don't go home". He can only hope that Teal'c will understand.

_This is how Daniel knows that Mitchell will be a different story._

Jack calls him Daniel as a sign of forgiveness and of gratitude. Sam does it to show they are equals. Teal'c's use of his full name shows respect and, later, deep friendship. He expected Vala's coy familiarity to rub him raw as the bracelet after a few days, but it doesn't. It's doesn't because of Mitchell, and because of what Mitchell uses as his name. Every time he hears Mitchell say "Jackson", he knows he's starting again from the beginning. He didn't realize how much that would hurt.

_This is how Vala knows she made a terrible mistake._

They give her a place. A patch. Sometimes they even give her a gun. She has connections here, actual connections she's willing to bleed for. She never had that before. Before it was money and fast ships and living to do it again tomorrow. Now there's people and promises hiding behind her pigtails, and more responsibility than she can cope with. It's difficult to sleep sometimes; a weight on her she can't blame on the mountain above her head. When the universe comes for them, it'll come for her too.

_This is how you know._

**Finis**

**

* * *

**  
AN: No, I did not forget Vala entirely until I got to the end. Whyever would you think that? *headdesk*

Gravity_Not_Included, June 29, 2010


End file.
